Sweet Fear
by TheCurseDoll-Beelzenef
Summary: Fed up with being teased by Gajeel about his fear of thunder, Pantherlily decides it's time for him to find out what the iron dragon slayer is afraid of. One Shot.


**AN: This is just a random idea that popped into my head, it's not amazing but i thought it was kinda cute and im procrastinating so here we are :D**

_Finally_, thought Pantherlily, his grin growing as he held up the square shaped bottle of emerald liquid, _this be better be worth all those jewels…_

The black Exceed exited the potion shop and struggled mightily to stop himself from bouncing down Magnolia's streets in pure joy. He peered up at the cloudy sky and chuckled to himself as he spotted one that looked kind of like a cat.

Pantherlily wondered if his curiosity really would get him killed, just like in the saying.

_Only if Gajeel finds out…_the Exceed reminded himself, a mischievous glint in his orange eyes, _It's high time I got my pay back anyway…_

Ever since the iron dragon slayer had found out about Pantherlily's, uh, _strong dislike_ of thunder, he had relentlessly brought it up, hoping to annoy and fluster him.

_Well at least he doesn't let other people bug me about it, not that _I_ couldn't take them on by myself. _

To many, Gajeel Redfox was a lot of things, scary looking, grumpy and a really awful singer, but one of his best qualities, in the Exceed's opinion, was his protectiveness. Gajeel was fiercely protective of what was his and he just happened to consider Pantherlily to be his cat.

The iron dragon slayer was also very proud and so he couldn't stand for anyone saying anything disrespectful about his friends and guild. Therefore, in Gajeel's mind, no one else but him was allowed to tease Pantherlily about his fear.

And while Pantherlily thought that was all well and good, he still wanted some ammunition of his own to get the man off his case; hence, Operation Redfox Down was created.

Pantherlily smirked to himself and glanced down at the very rare and very _expensive_ potion he was holding and hoped once again that it would be worth it. He wasn't far from the guild now but, being around lunchtime, the streets were starting to get crowded, he didn't want to risk an accident and so activated his wings and took the sky.

The journey to Fairy Tail didn't last very long at all and, as he landed in front of the open doors and hid the bottle behind his back, Pantherlily acknowledged that fact that nervous anticipation fluttered around inside his belly.

As usual, the members of the guild were in the middle of brawling, drinking and shouting. There was a particularly loud crash and it caused Pantherlily's round ears to twitch and an expression of displeasure to cross his feline face.

"Oi! Lily!" shouted the very dragon slayer the Exceed had wanted to see, "Where've you been? I was looking for you."

Pantherlily stared up at his friend as the man stomped over and he hoped he didn't betray himself by smiling.

"Gajeel," he greeted, "I just had a little business to take care of that's all."

"Business eh?" Gajeel crossed his muscular arms and smirked, "That's my cat alright, I bet flame brain and the little girl's cats don't have any business to take care of."

"I actually have some business to take of with you too, Gajeel," Pantherlily mentioned casually.

The iron dragon slayer narrowed his eyes, prompting Pantherlily to mentally struggle with what he could say to put the man off guard again. Luckily for the Exceed, a certain blue haired script mage approached at that moment.

"Um…" Levy started nervously, "G-gajeel?"

The man's red eyes turned to her, his expression almost imperceptibly softening, "Yeah? Whaddya want shrimp?"

She twiddled her fingers and shyly addressed her feet as she mumbled, "Um, I was w-wondering if you w-would do some t-training with me…"

"We'll train with you Levy!" shouted Jet and Droy enthusiastically as they pushed themselves over to where she was.

She winced and bit her lip.

Gajeel growled, "She'll train with _me_, she needs a real man, not you wimps."

Levy sighed, "You sound like Elfman…"

Pantherlily grinned at the perfection of the situation. Gajeel was thoroughly distracted by the Shadow Gear team giving the black Exceed time to effortlessly take his battle form.

He held the potion securely in his left hand before using a quick movement to knock the dragon slayer out with his right.

"Lily!" cried Levy, her face a picture of shock as Gajeel fell forward and face planted, "Why did you do that?"

Shrugging, Pantherlily responded, "I need him to do something but he won't unless he doesn't know about it."

The script mage puzzled over the words, ignoring the way Jet and Droy continued to argue over her.

"Just…just don't hurt him, okay?" she asked the Exceed.

Pantherlily scooped up Gajeel's heavy body and tossed it over his shoulder, then he smirked at the young woman and inclined his head towards her before leaving.

He carried Gajeel outside and around the side of the Fairy Tail building, dumping him unceremoniously on the ground and then propping him up against the stone wall.

Pantherlily stared at the bottle he held and then yanked out the cork, instinctively holding his breath as he watched wispy green smoke emerge. He quickly leaned forward, grabbed Gajeel's jaw and forced the potion into his mouth.

Gajeel swallowed and the cat beamed triumphantly as he released the man and sat back to watch what would happen.

The potion was already at work; Gajeel woke up for a second and then fell fast asleep, frowning and twitching. Pantherlily leaned forward, waiting for the potion to make the man speak.

"Gajeel," prompted Pantherlily, "What are you afraid of?"

The man's face contorted and then he mumbled, "Hurting…hurting Levy…n-not saving…L-levy."

It was a punch in the gut for the Exceed. He sighed in disappointment.

_I can't use Levy against him, that would be wrong. It's such a…a sweet fear for him to have._

For a while now Pantherlily had noticed the way Gajeel watched out for the petite mage and he supposed he should've seen it coming.

Pantherlily felt surprise jolt him however as Gajeel began to mumble in distress again, his pierced face becoming pinched with worry.

"Getting…a…haircut…"

Pantherlily laughed and grinned wickedly.

_Now this…_this_ I can use…_


End file.
